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Will high blood pressure show up on Brain MRI?
Hi, I ended up at the ER 3 X's with severe migraines and elevated blood pressure.(200/145, 199/101) CT was normal. Had been under tremendous amount of stress but ER dr said stress alone could not elevate BP to that extent. Especially, having never had high blood pressure before. After seeing a neurologist he ordered an MRI of the brain. My question is, will the high blood pressure show up on MRI? How does it show? What are the medical terms? Is this just related to migraines or is neurologist looking for something else?
Rosie
Rosie
Looking objectively, a patient who presents with high blood pressure and severe headaches raises clinical suspicion for an intracranial hemorrhage. That means the blood pressure got so high that a blood vessel burst in the brain and caused massive bleeding. If the CT was negative, then no bleeding was seen, essentially ruling this condition out. A Neurologist, as in this case, may order a more detailed imaging study i.e. the MRI to evaluate damage that could have been caused by very high blood pressure, and/or to look for other conditions that could exist or could be exacerbated by extreme high blood pressure such as an aneurysm that could burst under the high pressure of an artery.
Hi Rosie:
No, high blood pressure does not show up on an MRI. Your reading consists of the following:
Top number: This is called the Systolic and represents how much pressure your blood is pushing against the walls of your blood vessels when ACTIVE (heart pumping)
Bottom number: This is called the Diastolic and represents how much pressure is being exerted against the walls of your vessels when your heart is at rest (NOT squeezing out blood; pumping.)
The top number is more closely related to activity, stress, etc, although as we get older, it is also indicative of overall health.
However, very, very healthy people (even athletes) can have high blood pressure. It is thought to be controlled by genetics in some people.
Untreated high blood pressure can lead to strokes, heart attacks, organ damage, severe vision issues, etc.
Hope this helps and good luck...let me know what happens with your test.
-Robin
No, high blood pressure does not show up on an MRI. Your reading consists of the following:
Top number: This is called the Systolic and represents how much pressure your blood is pushing against the walls of your blood vessels when ACTIVE (heart pumping)
Bottom number: This is called the Diastolic and represents how much pressure is being exerted against the walls of your vessels when your heart is at rest (NOT squeezing out blood; pumping.)
The top number is more closely related to activity, stress, etc, although as we get older, it is also indicative of overall health.
However, very, very healthy people (even athletes) can have high blood pressure. It is thought to be controlled by genetics in some people.
Untreated high blood pressure can lead to strokes, heart attacks, organ damage, severe vision issues, etc.
Hope this helps and good luck...let me know what happens with your test.
-Robin
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